portraits

o come, o come emmanuel

taken on rannoch moor christmas 2007

will the trees be able to clap their hands?

apart from my thoughts being head deep in the themes of Christianity in Africa( the delights of imperialism, genocide and humanitarian legends) and how to plan a wedding, i have been thinking about Copenhagen. the UN summit that begins on Monday is quite a big deal, as far as worldwide summits go. it seems to be having a lot of hype - all the major humanitarian organisations are going crazy in their campaigns. i really hope we pray about it at church on sunday. but like with most moments of intercessory prayer, it will be limited.
i really want to pray more intentionally about this summit, to confess deeply unto God our failings and our forefathers and mothers failings. we desperately need forgiveness. and we need God's guidance on how to go about transforming and redeeming what has been lost...

"Take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the
wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is
not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone. I will make Jerusalem
a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without
inhabitant." Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the
LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so
that no one passes through? And the LORD says: "Because they have forsaken my law which I
set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly
followed their own hearts and have gone after the Ba'als, as their fathers taught them.”

Jeremiah 9:10-14

Magical Places.

Albert Borgmann is a philosopher/theologian from michigan. he speaks about how we have become detached from the culture of the stove, the culture that is focused around the hearth. we have forgotten what it truly means to be human - to be together, to be family, to be embraced.
in a remarkable book called "Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life", Borgmann argues that eating is one of the most truly human and theological acts that humanity can participate in:

"The great meal has its structure. it begins with a moment of reflection in which we place ourselves in the presence of the first and last things. It has a sequence of courses: it requires and sponsors memorable conversation; and all this enacted in the discipline called table manners. They are warranted when they constitute the respectful and skilled response to the great things that are coming to pass in the meal. We can see how order and discipline have collapsed when we eat a Big Mac...In a Big Mac the sequence of courses has been compacted into one object and the discipline of table manners has been reduced to grabbing and eating. The social context reaches no further than than the pleasant faces and the quick hands of the people who run the fast food outlet. In a festive meal however, the food is served, one of the most generous gestures human beings are capable of."

nipple cakes.
yum yum yum.

i heart the scottish psalter!

the scottish psalter is amazing. it is eloquent, honest, poetic and goes to the depth of human experience - to the orgasmic highs of joy in God.(hmmm) and to the abyss of the shitty mess that we constantly find ourselves in, individually and communally.
and it is always sung to a dirge, brilliant.

He changed parched land to flowing streams,
The hungry there he led.
He found a city safe and strong,
Which they inhabited. (Psalm 107)

"Of how many heroic characters have these old temple songs been the inspiration! Jewish saints and patriots chanted them in the synagogue and on the battlefield; apostles and evangelists sung them among perils of the wilderness, as they traversed the rugged paths of Syria and Galatia, and Macedonia; martyrs in Rome softly hummed them when the lions near at hand were crouching for their prey; in German forests, in Highland Glen, Lutherans and Covenanters breathed their lives out through their cadences; in every land penitent souls have found in them words to tell the story of their sorrow, and victorious souls the voices of their triumph; mothers watching their babes by night have cheered the vigil by singing them, mourners walking in lonely ways have been lighted by the great hopes that shine through them; and pilgrims going down into the valley of the shadow of death have, found in their firm assurances a strong staff to lean upon."
(from an excerpt of the The Psalms in Worship, 1907)

SOLI DEO GLORIA! woop.

a typical feminist theologian's starting point....yawn?

this year i've been reading quite a lot of liberation theology, feminist theology and other kinds of contextual theologies. this has been particularly important in developing my theological thought as i seek to discover how to broaden my theological methodology. Being a feminist theologian is challenging, especially because academics tend to sneer(often quite rightly) at the types of things feminist theologians choose to grapple with. being a feminist Christian is even harder. this challenge can be social but for the most part it is an ecclesial challenge. as a member of the Free Church of Scotland i find this a particular challenge since being a feminist theologian can often be discouraged(although may i add not in a directly oppressive way) as it's not going to get one anywhere - women are not able to teach, preach, pastor, be elders(at least not to their male peers).
so why this rant? most of you who read this are my friends and know what i think. often in talking with me face to face it might seem that i'm just falling into another theological fashion and just want something to shout about. but in all seriousness by feminism is rooted in my faith in the liberating Triune God and most certainly in scripture.
i recently wrote a paper on the theological significance of the place of women in the life and ministry of Jesus. This was an challenging and inspiring project as i delved deep into the unknown abyss of literary and biblical criticism and connecting higher biblical interpretation with systematic theology.
So really, what is the theological significance(if any) of the individual women in the life and ministry of Jesus? Or a question to the gospel narrative, how were these heroines used to bring out the story of the 'Gospel', the “Gospel of freedom for life ”? How does the place that women occupy in the gospels not only give dignity to their gender but also “symbolise the radical and inclusive nature of the kingdom that Jesus’ mission inaugurates”? be keen to develop a general hermeneutic of the place that women in the canonical gospels occupy. In seeking out the place that women occupy we find that we not only see how much Jesus' life was occupied by women but also the significance of this in providing a framework that forms a more holistic theological interpretation of the New Testament. This is especially important for how we develop our Christology. The Gospels are “paradigmatic remembrances, not comprehensive accounts of the historical Jesus, but expressions of communities and individuals who attempted to say what the significance of Jesus was” , and is: The resurrection and the life, The living water, The Saviour of the world.

to be continued....

i desire mercy..and not sacrifice.

so i've started to get to grips with my research projects for the summer.

my MA Divinity dissertation is going to be in 'A Theology of Food',
and my other 'side project' exploring the future of Liberation Theology in South Africa.
exciting times.

here's a wee quote from the glorious Wendell Berry which i want to use as my introductory quote for the dissertation
"To live we must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation. the point is when we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration... in such desecration, we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want."

i'm excited to explore issues within sacramental theology and the way in which we receive GRACE through the receiving and eating and sharing of food. what is the significance of the most important meal in the history of the christian tradition and the most remembered sharing of food in the whole world?!
the paradigmatic nature of the "Last Supper" needs to be rethought me thinks. and we must challenge our morsel and sip mentalities that seem to have replaced the great love feast.

oh dear. blogs are annoying. plus people will be able to see how incompetent i really am!

oh no! what will my boyfriend say? (or, i'm a feminist really)

i'm not expecting anyone to read this.
its' more to encourage me to keep track of thoughts.(i forget them mostly)
also, this gives me an opportunity to edit my rather large rants.